


Making the Best of It

by celtic7irish



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Everybody gets to be Cap, Exercise in trust, Kidnapping, M/M, Modified Captain America Uniform, Playing with Portals, Pre-Relationship, Protective Bucky, Snarky Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 14:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: It had been Steve’s idea, because of course it had been.  Something about not taking the role of team leader for granted or some such nonsense. Tony hadn’t really been paying much attention at the time.  Which is probably why he didn’t remember getting a say in the matter.Or: Everybody Takes a Turn Playing Captain America, Whether They Want To Or Not





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Tony Stark Bingo Square R3: Image: Tony dressed as Captain America

It had been Steve’s idea, because of course it had been. Something about not taking the role of team leader for granted or some such nonsense. Tony hadn’t really been paying much attention at the time. Which is probably why he didn’t remember getting a say in the matter.

Sam Wilson got first dibs on playing Captain America, whether by luck or design, Tony didn’t know. Steve’s newest BFF, the man had a level head and held up well under pressure, so it made sense. His week as Captain America was pretty quiet; two charity galas, a minor dustup at a local bank, and that was about it.

Barnes’ week was actually even quieter. Probably because the first villain that got a look at Captain America’s resting bitch face gave up without a fight, and apparently word of mouth in the underground travelled fast, because for a whole week, Tony got to lock himself in his lab with Bruce and make fun science. It was awesome.

Clint’s week was the complete opposite. At least, it would have been, but Phil Coulson apparently made an equally amazing sidekick to Captain America as he did to Nick Fury, and he managed to keep Manhattan from being completely destroyed by the army of Doombots. And the plague of bank robbers. And the Asgardian sorceress that apparently was hardcore into Thor. Not to mention the battalion of giant overgrown pigeons that had landed en masse in Central Park. All in all, it went about as well as anybody could’ve expected.

It had been decided unanimously that as Thor was a Prince of his people, and would one day be their King, he….probably didn’t need to play team captain, though he had been very enthusiastic about the idea.

Personally, Tony felt that being the owner of Stark Industries, as well as the head of Research and Development, more than qualified him to skip playing Captain America, but apparently Fury didn’t agree. Tony was pretty sure that Fury only insisted because it amused him, because Coulson just looked pained when Fury made it clear that Tony either played ball or the next time he was injured in battle, he’d be saddled with Maria Hill as his caretaker until he was released. Tony ceded the argument, but not without a bit of revenge of his own. He hoped Nick enjoyed the opera, because he’d be hearing a lot of it. And so would everybody else.

The first thing Tony did when he returned to the Tower was to pull the vintage Captain America uniform out storage and set about mimicking the outdated style on his own armored uniform. He’d done the same for the others in various iterations. Graphene was not only thinner and lighter than kevlar, but it was stronger, too, and could be layered almost indefinitely. A million layers of graphene only amounted to about one millimeter of thickness. Tony had refined the process, so that the armor looked just like normal clothes, but was light enough that even Natasha could move in it. Of course, Tony wasn’t going for normal, any more than Sam or Barnes or Clint had been. He was making a point, and the bright, shiny blue uniform, with its matching helmet (large white A and wings included) was anything but subtle.

Steve took one look at Tony when he came up the stairs wearing his Captain America uniform, and just sighed. He’d already tried to convince the others that they didn’t actually have to _dress like Captain America_, but they had all gleefully ignored him. After all, wasn’t being a hero like Captain America the ultimate childhood fantasy? Not that Tony would ever admit to having had any such aspirations as a child. Besides, Iron Man was definitely more awesome.

“Let’s just get this week over with, shall we?” Tony said, heading for the kitchen. He pulled back the cowl - he’d made his point, and it felt stupid to be covering his head in his own home - and made his way over the counter. Natasha was fixing herself a smoothie. She glanced over at him, tilting her head in acknowledgment.

“Tony.”

Tony grinned. “What? No ‘Captain’?” he demanded teasingly.

Natasha raised one delicate eyebrow, sniffing disdainfully as she turned back to the blender, tipping its contents into a travel cup. “Don’t let it go to your head,” she warned him. “A lot of people want to get their hands on Captain America.”

Tony snorted; if nothing else, Clint’s week as the Captain had proved that. There had been calls for his surrender no less than four times. Of course, the team had been very quick to discourage them from getting any stupid ideas. It was amazing what a shield to the head could do to convince third-rate villains that no, they really _didn’t_ want to bring Captain America home with them, tied up or not.

Silently, Tony turned his hand so his palm was facing up. Natasha took one look at the subtle repulsor circles on his gloves, barely even noticeable against the blue material of the uniform, and laughed. “Still Tony Stark,” she said approvingly, brushing a quick kiss against Tony’s cheek before slipping out of the kitchen, smiling at Phil as the agent passed her in the doorway.

Phil looked Tony up and down appraisingly. “Accurate,” he approved, making Tony chuckle. If anybody would know if he’d missed any details, it would be Captain America’s biggest fanboy.

“Thank you,,” Tony told him, more sincere that he would’ve liked to be. He covered up the slight embarrassment by turning around and pulling a mug out of the cabinet, filling it with hot, life-giving caffeine. Not bothering to let it cool first, Tony took a sip of his coffee, sighing with pleasure as the warmth slid down his throat. Coffee was _the best_.

“J, send out the alarm if the Avengers are needed,” he said after a moment. “Other than that, don’t bother me.”

“Tony,” Steve started, frowning from where he was leaning against the doorway.

Tony waved a hand, cutting him off. “Chill, Cap,” he said. “I’ve got some SI work to do, and I’m sure you all can manage on your own with the team bonding or whatever it is. If you want, I’ll make a schedule,” he offered magnanimously. By which he meant he’d have Jarvis make a schedule, of course.

“That’s not the point, Tony,” Steve told him, turning around to follow on Tony’s heels as the genius left the kitchen, heading for the elevator and his workshop. “You’re the team captain, you should at least maybe interact with the team.”

“Like Barnes?” Tony sniped back, almost feeling guilty when Steve flinched at the harsh rebuke. “Look, Cap, I’ll set up a movie night or something, get the whole team together. But right now, I have work to do. If something comes up, we’ll deal with it. Until then, I’ll be in the lab.” And having made his point, Tony was eager to get out of this uniform and into workshop clothes.

Bruce stepped out of the elevator as it opened, and he took a moment to blink at Tony. “Your week, huh?” he asked ruefully, and Tony grinned.

“Yep! And you gotta admit, I make this look good,” he sassed, giving Bruce an exaggerated wink.

Bruce gave him a small smile in return, and Tony cheered internally. The last week had been hard on Bruce, and the Hulk had come out more often than usual. “Somehow, it suits you,” Bruce teased back gently, and Tony laughed, holding out his arms and giving a showy spin.

“Yep. Team Captain for a whole week,” he said.

Bruce shook his head. “You’re heading down to the lab, aren’t you?” he asked wryly.

Tony shrugged. “You know me so well,” he said. “I’ve got Jarvis monitoring for any villainous activity. But it’s not like I’m actually going to _be_ the Captain. For one thing, shield-throwing isn’t exactly my style. And secondly, if the world actually needs Captain America, you know Steve’s not going to just stand by and watch.”

Bruce conceded with a nod. “Have fun,” he told Tony, stepping aside so the engineer could enter the elevator.

The elevator started moving as soon as Tony stepped inside, moving down towards his lab. Under his breath, he started humming. _“Very fitting, Sir,”_ Jarvis snarked.

Tony grinned. “I could sing it, if you’d prefer,” he offered congenially. In return, Jarvis blasted a short volley of “Star-Spangled Man” over the elevator speakers.

Tony was still humming when he walked into his lab to find Barnes sitting there, playing with the bots. “Oh, hey, Freezer Burn,” he greeted. “What’s up?”

The brunette looked up from where he was tossing a ball to Dum-E and U, then paused, his face making an expression that Tony recognized as the one he got when something triggered a flash of memories. Barnes cocked his head curiously after a moment, scrutinizing Tony’s uniform-clad body. “You playin’ Stevie this week?” he drawled.

Tony shrugged, relaxing. “Something like that,” he agreed. “But really, unless the bad guys are mad tech geniuses, it’s just going to be business as usual.”

Barnes gave a noncommittal hum, turning back to the bots. “I’ve always hated that uniform,” he said after a moment, and Tony paused on his way across the lab towards the row of lockers where he kept spare clothes in case of emergency. Or a business meeting that he conveniently forgot about until Pepper stormed in to remind him. Forcefully.

“Really?” he asked, surprised, changing course. He should probably change first, but the opportunity to get Barnes to open up a little was too good to pass up. “I would’ve thought you’d be indifferent to it, at worst.”

Barnes shook his head. “He was wearin’ somethin’ like it when he found me in Austria,” he said, “and he wasn’t my Stevie anymore.”

Tony had heard the stories, of course. He liked the ones that Aunt Peggy used to tell him, though, because Peggy talked about Captain America like he was a person. Brave and noble, yes, but also awkward and shy. Steve’s excursion into Austria to rescue the remainder of the 107th (though they all knew he had gone for Barnes) had been what had finally earned him the official title of Captain, and earned the loyalty of the men who would become known as the Howling Commandos.

Whatever had been done to Barnes in Austria had probably allowed him to survive the fall from the train and down a snowy mountain. 

“Yes, well, nobody ever said they had fashion sense in the forties. Just give me a minute to get changed, and we’ll take a look at your arm. Or, you know, whatever.” Barnes hadn’t actually said why he was down here yet.

“Oh, I’m not...I don’t need anythin’,” Barnes stumbled awkwardly. “I jus’....it’s amazin’ down here. I never thought I’d see anythin’ like this again,” he admitted, one hand stroking along Dum-E’s strut, the bot chirping happily and pressing into his touch like an excited puppy. Tony felt he should scold him, but Barnes didn’t seem to mind, so he let it go.

Hearing somebody else praise his tech sent a warm zing through Tony, and he grinned. “Well, if you’re going to go with flattery, then you’re welcome to stick around for a while.” And really, if he hadn’t been okay with Barnes being down here, he wouldn’t have given him access to the workshop. But Tony knew that he sometimes got involved in his work and ceased to pay attention to the world around him, and with Barnes’ arm, if something was wrong, the soldier would probably just wait until whenever Tony decided to emerge from his engineering haze to say anything.

Barnes smiled back tentatively, and Tony’s heart stuttered in his chest. He looked away and cleared his throat. Barnes really was unfairly handsome, in a rugged, tortured soul kind of way.

Excusing himself, Tony hurried back towards the shower room he kept just off of the workshop, for those times when he worked until Pepper or Rhodey came to drag him away to some event or other, or when he spilled something mildly toxic on his skin. He still needed to change, after all.

And if Barnes wanted to hang around just for kicks, then that was fine, right?

Right.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony almost made it through the entire week without a call to assemble. He kept his word to Steve and scheduled a training session with the others, where he gleefully showed off the repulsors in his uniform, catching both Clint and Thor by surprise. Natasha just smirked when Clint complained that she had obviously known but hadn’t said anything, and Steve had just sighed.

There was also a movie night, and two separate interviews during which Tony managed to both delight and appall the assembled reporters in his temporary roll as team leader, Bucky Barnes standing at his shoulder like the world’s grumpiest bodyguard.

Unfortunately, Tony’s luck rarely held out for more than a few days at a time, so he supposed hoping for a whole week might have been a bit too much to ask.

Villains had gotten word that Iron Man was playing Captain America this week. Which meant no Iron Man armor (like Jarvis couldn’t pilot the Iron Legion, but if they wanted to be that dumb, Tony wasn’t about to stop them), which meant that they felt free to cause trouble. Trouble which took the shape of a half dozen portals in Central Park and some very, very angry mechanical hornets whose stings burned like a colony of fire ants.

Tony swore as he dodged another one of the damn things, wishing he had his hermetically sealed armor. These stupid insects wouldn’t be able to penetrate it. Not that his Captain America uniform wasn’t resistant to their stings, but even with gloves and cowl on, there was still exposed skin. Fortunately, it was minimal, and Tony could mostly avoid the stingers.

“Surrender your Captain now and this will all end,” the villain of the week told them solemnly. Clint snarled back something rude, sending an exploding arrow into the midst of a swarm and destroying them in a ball of flames. Natasha and Bruce were busy shutting down the portals. Steve and Thor were grimly taking on the swarms of mechanical hornets, more hardy and faster-healing than their merely human teammates.

_“Sir, the Iron Legion will arrive in one minute, nineteen seconds,”_ Jarvis murmured into Tony’s earpiece.

“Good,” Tony nodded. “Scoop up Hawk and Spider, then see about closing these portals. We’re not making any headway.”

_“And you, sir?”_ Jarvis asked drolly.

Tony grinned, striding forward toward the idiot portal-wielding wizard that had no idea yet just how badly he’d fucked up. “They demanded the Captain’s surrender,” he replied gleefully. “So I’m going to surrender.”

_“Sir?”_ Jarvis repeated worriedly, but Tony had already reached the other man, who was looking at him with vague confusion.

“I want the Captain,” he told Tony, who nodded.

“Yes, yes, we all heard,” he said, ignoring Steve’s voice in his ear telling him to quit playing lone wolf and work with the team. He knew what he was doing. Probably. “That would be. Until tomorrow, at least. Would you like to wait and try again then?” he asked.

The villain hesitated for a moment, and Tony was close enough to see that the moron was actually _wearing_ the mechanism that was undoubtedly controlling the portals, if not the mechanical insects. Seriously, what was it with bad guys not having better security measures?

“I don’t want to wait,” the baddie muttered belligerently, sounding remarkably like a sulky teenager.

Tony nodded. “Yeah, instant gratification, am I right?” he asked, holding his hands up on either side of his head as he continued to approach the villain. “By the way, I don’t believe you introduced yourself? I mean, I know you know who I am, everybody older than about two does, but isn’t declaring your super villain name kind of a requirement? Bad Guys 101?”

Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously, like he thought Tony was pulling his leg, but he answered anyhow. “You may call me Draven Darkmore,” he declared at last, and Tony bit back his laughter. At least he hadn’t named himself Doctor Portal or Beekeeper, so he supposed that was something, at least. At least Darkmore sounded like a proper villain name.

“Very well, I accept your surrender.” Tony realized the bad guy was still talking when he held out his hand imperiously. With his other hand, he twisted the outer ring of the necklace he wore, and a new portal opened up right behind him. This one didn’t lead to the same place as the others. In fact, Tony was pretty sure it lead directly to Darkmore’s lair. He suppressed another snicker.

“Look, you’ve got me. How about you close the other portals, huh?” Tony asked reasonably.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Darkmore had already been prepared for such a request. “They’re keeping your friends busy,” he dismissed. “You go through this portal, and then I’ll close the rest.”

“And why should he trust your word?” a familiar voice spoke up from behind them. Tony and Darkmore turned to see the Winter Soldier standing there, glaring daggers at the two of them. “Stark, don’t be stupid,” the Soldier said.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Genius,” he pointed out mildly, trying to reassure Barnes with his eyes that he had this, dammit. Grey eyes were unimpressed as they slid past him to Darkmore.

“Wouldn’t you rather have two o’ us?” he drawled, dropping his gun and the two visible knives on the ground and holding his hands up in surrender. The other Avengers seemed to have finally figured out what was going on. 

“Tony, don’t do it,” Steve said. “We’ll find another way.”

“C’mon, Stark, don’t be stupid,” Clint piped up. “I’ve almost got sights on him.”

Tony pressed a finger to his ear and silenced comms, glancing over at Barnes, who was waiting patiently. Just then, an arrow landed next to Tony’s feet, and Darkmore startled. “Portal. Now!” he barked. “Both of you!”

Tony wasn’t about to waste anymore time, slipping through the portal just ahead of Barnes, trusting that if anything was about to attack, it would hit him first. “Stupid, Stark,” Barnes muttered from right behind him as Darkmore followed, closing the portal behind him. Tony saw a glimpse as the portal was closing of the others closing as well. Which meant that the remaining Avengers would just have to deal with whatever mechanical hornets remained. And Tony would deal with the portal-opening piece of jewelry that Darkmore wore. Barnes would undoubtedly make for an excellent distraction.

Darkmore seemed to have thought of that, too - or he was smart enough to not like the odds of going up against Iron Man and the Winter Soldier on his own, because he opened another portal even as Tony was looking around the dusty stone room they’d found themselves in. “The Soldier will remain here while you and I talk,” Darkmore ordered. “Or I will open a portal to space and throw you both through it.”

Tony couldn’t help the way his breath caught then sped up, swallowing as he flinched. The Soldier growled, pointing a gun at Darkmore that hadn’t been anywhere in sight a moment before. “Don’t even think it,” he snarled. “I’m willin’ to play nice, but I stay with him,” he said. “After all, haven’t you heard? I’m Cap’s sidekick.”

Tony barked a laugh at that. “Look, you might as well just take what you’ve got,” he pointed out. “Which is Tony Stark and Sergeant James Barnes, who you just portaled - is that a word?” he asked Barnes, who shrugged - “into this creepy, empty room. I assume this isn’t the final destination?”

Darkmore seemed thrown by Tony’s candor. He shook his head. “No, it’s just...just a pit stop,” he replied. “A halfway point.” Now _that_ was interesting. Was it a halfway point because Darkmore was trying to throw off pursuers? Or could they only travel certain distances through portals? But that wouldn’t explain the mechanical bugs, unless they came from somewhere within however big a radius the pendant could work in. Which would then mean that the hornets were based somewhere here on earth. At least, Tony was pretty sure he was on earth.

A gentle nudge at his shoulder started Tony out of his thoughts. He glanced over at Barnes, who nodded towards the portal and the man standing next to it. The gun was tucked away again, but no less threatening for all that it was no longer in the Soldier’s hands. “I think the man’s gettin’ impatient,” he said in a low murmur designed only for Tony’s ears. “You goin’ or we fightin’?”

“Going,” Tony said out loud, moving towards the new portal after a moment of hesitation. The Soldier’s hand between his shoulder blades more encouraging than he’d like to admit. He really, really hated portals. But at least he was pretty sure that Darkmore was just taking them somewhere else on earth.

This time, when Tony stepped through the portal, he found himself in an actual villain’s lab. The whole space was filled with consoles and wires, all hooked up to a large pod sitting in the middle of the room. Tony suspected that whatever was inside the pod was the power source for the necklace that Darkmore was wearing, which would at least make his decision to follow the guy not a complete waste of time. Cap would probably still have words for him later, though. Of course, that was supposing he made it out of this alive.

The Captain America uniform didn’t exactly have pockets, so Tony clasped his hands behind his back, looking around in feigned interest. “So, this is your supervillain lair,” he said. “Very modern.”

Darkmore snorted. “What were you expecting? An underground cave?” he asked.

Tony shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first one,” he admitted. Which, really, probably said something about their lives. Still, he had to admit, if only to himself, that the lack of stone and dark and cold was something of a relief. He didn’t care for caves any more than he cared for space.

“So, what’s the plan now?” he asked, very carefully not looking behind him. Keep the bad guy talking, Rule #1. Well, right after the Don’t Get Kidnapped in the First Place rule that Tony had blown right past without so much as a by-your-leave. 

“Now, you stay here while I make my demands,” Darkmore informed him, pointing to a door off to the side of the room. “SHIELD has something I want.”

Tony blinked, considering that for a moment. It wasn’t a terrible plan, really. SHIELD didn’t bargain with terrorists, usually, but they could occasionally be talked into making a deal. Tony wasn’t under any illusions about just what SHIELD was capable of, given the right motivation. But Tony was ranked pretty low on their list of priorities. The only one of them that _might_ be lower was the Winter Soldier, and that was debatable, given his importance to Captain America.

He glanced over at the pod again, and Darkmore’s necklace glowed, portals opening up on all sides of the pod, showing nothing but the vast emptiness of space. “Don’t try me,” Darkmore warned.

“Don’t go near the giant metal egg, got it,” Tony muttered, taking a step back, away from the portals. 

“I’m so glad you understand,” Darkmore smiled. His necklace glowed again, and this time, Tony didn’t see the portal opening behind him.

“Stark, watch out!” Barnes called out a warning, but it was too late. Something slammed into Tony from behind and he went down, hard, his head cracking against the floor. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the Soldier hitting the floor next to him. So much for his backup.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony groaned, then winced when the small noise made his head hurt worse. His throat was dry and sore, and his shoulders were pulled up at an uncomfortable angle. 

“Stark? You awake?” The gruff voice of the Soldier made Tony open his eyes, blinking out into darkness. His breath sped up as he twisted his head and yanked against the chains wrapped around his wrists, his feet slipping on the floor.

“Shit,” he muttered, knowing that panicking wasn’t going to do him any good, but unable to help it. He was chained up in the dark, not knowing anything about where he was or how small the room around him was.

“Stark! Snap out of it. C’mon,” Barnes tried again. Tony heard him, but it was muffled, a low murmur under the ringing in his ears. “Dammit. I can’t come to you right now, I’m a little busy, so you gotta calm down on your own. Tell me what you need.”

“I need to be able to see,” Tony gritted out, “and I need to not be chained to a goddamn ceiling.” His arms were definitely above his head, and his back wasn’t pressed against anything, so he was pretty sure the chains were grounded in the ceiling, which was really, really inconvenient, leverage-wise.

Tony tried to ignore the way his breath came out harsh and jagged, feeling like he couldn’t get enough air. Barnes started talking again, and though it took Tony a couple of seconds to focus, he realized that Barnes _could _see, even if Tony couldn’t, jacked up super-soldier sniper that he was. “We’re in a….oh, ten-by-twelve room, I’m guessin’,” Barnes said, his tone shifting from the careful cadence of the Winter Soldier into the smoother drawl of the kid from Brooklyn. Tony was sure it was calculated, but Barnes’ blithe, unconcerned tenor helped him grab hold of his panic and shove it down and away, at least for the moment.

“This guy didn’t plan very well,” Barnes added, followed by a harsh grunt. “No maglocks in this room.” It took Tony a moment to process the other man’s words, along with the sounds he could hear - the clinking and rattling of chains, grunts of effort, booted feet sliding on stone. Barnes was trying to snap the chains, probably the same as the ones holding Tony captive. But Tony was only human. Barnes was...more than that. Plus, that metal arm wasn’t just for show.

“You think you can break free?” Tony asked softly, keeping his voice down. He didn’t know if this room was wired for sound or not, but it wouldn’t hurt to assume that it was.

“Pretty sure,” Barnes confirmed. “Just gotta find the weak link.” He let out a huff. “Really could use those repulsors of yours right abou’ now,” he added.

Tony stopped dead, considering. Darkmore hadn’t stripped him of his uniform, probably because he figured it was just Tony Stark playing dress-up. Tony had let Thor and Falcon take air patrol while he’d kept boots on the ground. Well, and repulsors on the bottom of combat boots had seemed like a really bad idea, even to him. So it was gloves only.

“Think you can see well enough to give me somewhere to aim, Buckaroo?” he asked, trying to sound casual. It was hard to suppress the hopeful note in his voice, though.

Barnes paused. “You….those gloves ain’t just for show, huh?” he asked at last, disbelieving.

Tony snorted. “Please. You know me better than that.” Which was true. Barnes spent enough time in Tony’s workshop to see several partially-completed projects, as well as a handful of iterations of the Iron Man suit, though he never tried to get too close when Tony was working on something that wasn’t his metal arm. It had taken a while for Tony to be okay with the other man being in his space, given their past history, but it helped that Barnes adored Tony’s bots, and treated Jarvis like he was human. Also, he was fascinated by technology, by the future. He’d told Tony the story of his and Steve’s last night before Barnes shipped off to war, about the hovering car at the Stark Expo. Even though the demonstration had ended in failure, Barnes had been fascinated by the possibilities. Tony finally had an appreciative audience, and he wasn’t above taking advantage of it when the opportunity arose.

He heard the soft slither of chains rubbing together, and then Barnes was talking. “Can you tilt your left hand slightly upwards, move it a bit to the left?” Tony did as he’d been asked, glad that his wrist was protected by the sleeves of his uniform, because the shackles were tight, and he was certain that they would’ve been cutting into his wrist by now, otherwise.

“Little more left,” Barnes said. “Okay. A little more up?” Tony grimaced as the awkward angle pulled at his shoulder and chest, but Barnes seemed satisfied. “Gimme a sec,” he murmured, “gotta straighten out this chain.” There was another sound, followed by a grunt and the rattling of metal.

“What did you just do?” Tony wondered.

“Dropped,” Barnes answered bluntly. “Dead weight. Bust me outta these stupid chains so we can go stop th’ bad guy.”

Tony gave a rusty chuckle as he powered up his glove, the repulsor beam lighting the room up in brilliant blue and leaving spots dancing in front of Tony’s eyes. But he heard the thump and grunt as Barnes dropped to the ground. “I might need a minute,” Tony mused, blinking rapidly. It really...wasn’t helping.

“Ain’t gotta minute,” Barnes told him, and he was much closer than Tony had realized. “Your pal out there seemed like he had other plans.”

“Then what did he need me for?” Tony grumbled.

Even though he couldn’t see it, he got the distinct feeling that the Soldier was shrugging. “Dunno. Distraction?” he suggested. Which would make sense, in that the rest of the Avengers (and maybe SHIELD) would be busy looking for him, rather than watching for Darkmore’s next move. Tony really hoped that Fury was smarter than that, though.

“I’ll give him distraction,” Tony promised wholeheartedly. Barnes gave a rusty chuckle, and Tony felt more than heard him move. A cool metal hand touched his side, then slid upwards. Tony narrowed his eyes. “I thought you could see,” he accused.

“An’ then you lit the place up like fireworks,” Barnes agreed. “S’now I gotta have some help.”

Tony smirked. “Uh huh,” he said, planting his feet more firmly in preparation. “Admit it, you just wanted an excuse to touch the uniform,” he leered.

“Yeah, the uniform,” Barnes deadpanned. “You caught me.” Metal fingers tangled briefly with Tony’s before Barnes got hold of the chain just above the cuffs, his body pressed against Tony’s as he reached. “Hang on a sec, this migh’ be a little rough.”

“Promise?” Tony purred. The chain vibrated above him, and Tony realized that the Soldier was laughing silently. 

“Stop that,” Barnes ordered. Tony held his breath and stilled for a moment, and with a hard yank, the chain snapped in Barnes’ metal hand, releasing one of Tony’s arms.

“Ow,” he complained as the sudden change in position sent painful tingles the whole way down his arm. “Be gentle. I’m delicate!”

“Delicate, huh?” Barnes asked, shifting around behind Tony so he could grab hold of the other chain. “That’s why you fly ‘round in a tin can blowing shit up.”

“Kind of, yeah,” Tony agreed, staggering forward when the second chain snapped. He probably could’ve used his repulsor beams, but he didn’t trust himself with a concussive blast that close to his merely human body, reinforced armor or not. He would’ve fallen if it wasn’t for Barnes grabbing his hips and holding him steady, pulling him back against his body.

Tony leaned back. “Thanks,” he murmured.

Barnes’ mouth brushed against his ear. “No problem,” he murmured back quietly before releasing Tony once he was steady.

Tony sighed, stretching his arms above his head, then grinned. “All right, Sidekick,” he said, “point me towards the door.”

“Gladly.”


	4. Chapter 4

“And that’s how I came to be worshipped as a deity by a bunch of mechanical insects,” Tony said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair, hands crossed casually over his stomach. He was still wearing the Captain America uniform, mostly because it made the SHIELD agents do a double-take when they saw him striding down the corridor with a murder-strutting ex-assassin at his side. Across from him, Nicholas Fury glared with his one good eye, fingers tented over his mouth.

Dark eyes flicked over to the man sitting next to Tony, booted feet crossed at the ankles and resting on the table. “You got anything to add to this, Soldier?” he asked.

Barnes grinned, sharp and dangerous. “No, sir,” he said cheerfully, completely at ease here in the heart of SHIELD Headquarters. Of course, he had reason to be, since he was the only one - other than Tony, of course - that knew the exact coordinates where they’d dropped Darkmore after reducing his lab to rubble and dismantling the main power source for the portal device.

Tony wondered idly if Fury had realized yet that Darkmore’s necklace was still missing. But even if he had, Tony no longer had it in his possession, so it was a moot point anyhow. If the Director of SHIELD wanted to test his mettle against the Sorcerer Supreme, Tony would be only too happy to buy tickets to the show.

Fury’s scowl deepened, and Tony watched, fascinated, as his good eye twitched. “You know what?” he said at last. “I don’t even care anymore. You’re dismissed. Barnes, I expect a report on my desk by morning.” He knew better than to try and get Tony to write up something as stupid as a mission report, but he apparently hadn’t learned his lesson with their newest member yet.

“Yessir,” Barnes drawled, giving a half-assed salute as he stood and followed Tony out of the room, the door thudding closed on a resigned Fury. He tipped his head to look at Tony. “D’you reckon he reads Russian?” he asked archly.

Tony snorted. “Probably,” he shrugged, “but go ahead and do it anyhow, if only to give him a headache. Assuming, of course, that you’re actually going to write up a mission report.”

The Soldier shrugged. “Stevie gets all frowny an’ disapprovin’ if I blow it off,” he said, but he didn’t seem terribly concerned. Tony just raised an eyebrow, and Barnes grinned. “My last mission report read somethin’ like ‘bad guys died, good guys won, things got blown to shit’.”

Tony’s laughter echoed down the hall, and deep in SHIELD Headquarters, a handful of new recruits flinched for no apparent reason.


End file.
